


Comfort

by blutopaz15



Series: Post S3 Fics [3]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Making Out, Post S3, also they are both like outrageously flirty in this??, always dorks, in which callum is a sweetie pie and rayla likes to kiss him about it, pre TTM, rayla has cramps bc of her period, still dorks tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:40:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28881114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blutopaz15/pseuds/blutopaz15
Summary: Callum helps Rayla feel better in the middle of the night, and Rayla repays him with kisses.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Rayllum - Relationship
Series: Post S3 Fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018518
Comments: 35
Kudos: 110





	Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends!
> 
> This stinker just did not want to be written, even though it's been brewing in my brain (and on a Google Doc) for like a month.
> 
> A few things that have conspired to create this 3.9k fluff monstrosity...
> 
> First of all, [this ask](https://raayllum.tumblr.com/post/636789902458109952/i-dont-know-why-but-this-just-crossed-my-mind-but) that [raayllum on tumblr](raayllum.tumblr.com/) got a few weeks ago and the conversation that followed about how Callum would react to Rayla on her period, 
> 
> Also, [this artwork](https://chimpukampu.tumblr.com/post/639156042031316992/got-this-idea-from-blutopaz15-which-in-my) (shout-out to [chimpukampu](https://chimpukampu.tumblr.com/) :D) of a silly post I made and the conversation about possible elven counting that followed (look in the notes of the post...also, I'm pretty sure that my interpretation below also makes no sense, but, oh well, I think it's funny),
> 
> And OF COURSE my uncontrollable need to write every dang moment of rayllum fluff between the end of S3 and the end of TTM.
> 
> TW: non-graphic references to periods
> 
> (Nothing more than late night smooches and cuddles in here, in case that wasn't clear, FYI.)
> 
> Enjoy, friends!

Callum let out a little groan when he woke and was immediately faced with a bright streak of moonlight in his eye. That was pretty much the only downside so far of his ** _—_** well,  _ their **—** _ new bedroom. The window dressing above Rayla’s bed never  _ quite  _ met in the middle to cover the window entirely, leaving a strip of light to fall right across Callum’s pillow. It was most inconvenient in the mornings when it was the sun streaking through the window, and it had been annoying at night too, especially since the moon was still pretty bright in the sky, having not quite waned into half-moon territory.

He flopped to his side, evading the blinding white light, and looked across to the  _ other _ bright streak of moonlight in his room. 

The grin that pulled across his lips was automatic, even in bleary-eyed drowsiness. 

She’d  _ definitely _ roll her eyes at that one. She’d also probably smile as she did so, and maybe, if he said it at  _ just _ the right moment, she might laugh too. He tucked the line away for later use. 

He yawned and let his eyes flutter back nearly closed, continuing to stare dreamily at the way Rayla’s hair, all bright and shiny and a bit tangled up, contrasted with the dull cream color of the pillow she rested on. She appeared, based on her stillness, to be sleeping. Though, it was hard to tell just looking at the back of her head. 

That was good, if she was asleep. Her yawning and late mornings for the past few days told him that she needed the rest. 

Sleeping in a new place could be difficult, he supposed. In fact, the only thing he remembered about  _ his _ first week in the castle at three-years-old was how dark it had always been in his new room. He’d insisted on the window in here ** _—_** the one currently bothering him ** _—_** for that reason. 

Maybe she was starting to adjust, though, he thought hopefully, his eyes drifting shut the rest of the way.

Then she made the most  _ miserable _ little noise he’d ever heard: worse than in the desert, even. He was alert and sitting up instantly. 

“Rayla?”

“Go back to sleep, Callum,” she said, not even bothering to turn over. Her tone wasn’t tearful like he’d been expecting. She was...angry? 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, trying and failing to recall any passing scowl when she’d been snuggled up with him before bed. His brow furrowed watching her pull herself into a tightly compacted ball beneath her covers, knees drawn up to her chest.

“It’s” ** _—_** she paused and repeated the heart-wrenching sound that’d set him off in the first place ** _—_** ”nothing.” Rayla looked up over her shoulder, but he wasn’t sure if she’d be able to make out the disapproving and concerned frown on his face out of the corner of her eye. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered, much more gently, before dropping back against her pillow.

Not mad, then? No sniffling noises, so not crying either.  _ Definitely _ not happy, though. 

“It’s  _ not _ nothing,” he insisted, throwing off his blanket. He pictured the bashful way she always approached the end of his bed before asking if she could sit there with him after dinner and made himself stop to ask too, even though his feet had already hit the ground. “Can I come over there?”

“Fine,” she groaned into her pillow, the tinge of discomfort in her voice still clearly audible. He stood but hesitated. It didn’t  _ seem _ fine, but his doubt was quickly cast away by her hand, thrust out behind her in his general direction, her body still curled up facing the wall. “Please.” 

He squinted, growing confused with her inconsistency, but closed the distance anyway, the bed creaking when he sat at her side. Her extended arm fell around his middle and he touched her other hand, which was clutching, white-knuckled, at the fabric of the blanket laying across her side. Her fingers loosened enough so that he could slide his hand beneath hers, but her arm still pressed tightly against her stomach.  _ That _ wasn’t normal.

“Why are you holding your stomach like that?” He rubbed his thumb across her tense knuckles, thinking back through what they’d eaten earlier. 

Rayla looked up at him, face flushed ** _—_** maybe  _ feverish _ ? He reached for her, finding ** _—_** to his relief ** _—_** her forehead cool to the touch. Just warm cheeks, he found when he let his fingers ghost down her temple. He could see a tiny smile on her lips in the dim light before his hand fell away but she turned away to bury her face again before he had a chance to smile back. “You don’t want to know,” she said, her voice muffled.

She released the fabric of his pajamas that had been tangled between her fingers to cradle her stomach with both arms now. Maybe this was a Big-Feelings stomach ache? “Rayla, I  _ do _ . I do want to know,” he said with a soft touch to her elbow.

“Cramps,” she said, still pink-cheeked when she turned away from the pillow again. Her eyebrows lifted a bit and he guessed she was wondering if he’d understand. He offered a reassuring smile and squeezed at the hand in his. He wasn’t  _ that _ clueless. Still, though, he wasn’t  _ quite _ sure what to do...or even what to ask for that matter.

“Can I...What ** _—_** What do you need? What can I do?” 

She sighed as she fell from her side onto her back, her hand rubbing against her lower belly with slow, firm pressure.

“Kill me, won’t you?” Rayla smiled weakly, her typical sarcastic sparkle dimmed by the pain. 

As much as he would’ve preferred for Rayla to be either sleeping soundly or whole-heartedly sassing him rather than looking all miserable, Callum had to admit he was glad that it wasn’t anything more serious. 

She let out an uncharacteristically pitiful whine and pushed her head back, bright white hair pooling in messy piles on her pillow.

Well...maybe  _ serious _ wasn’t the right word. 

He  _ was _ relieved it was at least a  _ normal _ ...semi-normal?...problem and not something he could’ve somehow prevented, though.

The last noise she’d made had prompted his hand to unthinkingly reach out to touch her, and, once his brain caught up with his body, he was  _ also _ relieved that she hadn’t immediately slapped him away when he’d let his hand fall against the little divot in her pajamas above her navel. When she didn’t flinch, he nudged her hand out of the way, his taking its place. Rayla’s smile was less forced when he turned back to look at her, her fingers settling softly back on top of his while he pressed down against the taut surface of her stomach. She tugged on his fingers slightly, and he started to move his hand back and forth the way she had been doing, the fabric of her pajamas warming with the friction. 

“I don’t know...it’s the middle of the night,” she sighed again as she started to give a serious answer to his question. She watched his hand move slowly beneath hers, another frown interrupting her momentary relief. “I just wish I had…”

Callum perked up, optimistic that he might be able do something more for her. “What?” he asked.

“Something warm. Like,  _ really _ warm,” she replied. “Back home I had this bag ** _—_** thing? I don’t know. Ethari made it out of an old crafting apron ** _—_** with a bunch of stones in it. We’d put by the forge for a while, and it’d get all warm and...it helped.” 

The faraway look that had crossed her face had him wondering which kind of pain had actually made the frown return. She’d given him an actual remedy for the physical pain, at least, even if the rest of her hurting was probably too complicated for the middle of the night.

“Like a hot water bottle?” he asked, recalling the padded metal canteen he kept at the foot of his bed on particularly frigid winter nights. He wasn’t sure if one had made it to their new quarters here given the summery weather, but he knew who to ask.

“Uh...I don’t know. Maybe?” she shrugged, fingers absentmindedly running from wrist to knuckle against his skin.

“Will you be okay for a while if I go find one?” He added his other hand to the stack on her stomach with a reassuring pat and stilled his caresses before he tried to stand, but she held him in place, all four of their hands pressing down against her now.

“Callum, it’s late. I’m fine,” she said, shaking her head at him. “You don’t have to ** _—_** ”

“I want to,” he insisted, cutting her off and flipping his bottom hand to wrap around hers. “I don’t like seeing you like this. Hurting, I mean.”

Her smile was the first one since the lights went out without even a trace of suffering. She nodded, but before he’d fully untangled himself from her grasp, she was pulling him back down by the wrist again, this time drawing him closer than before.

“I’ll owe you,” she said, the sweet smile transforming into a coy smirk as she sat up. He chuckled, recognizing mischief in the way she turned her head to look at him sideways through half-lidded eyes, enticing him ** _—_** clearly ** _—_** but still trying to keep her lips  _ just _ out of range.

“Owe me what?” he said, the hand she’d pulled him nearer by settling between her hip and the far wall. Rayla tempted him further with a finger drawing circles against his shoulder. He felt his face color and a nervous laugh bubbled up.

“Kisses,” she said, moonlight glimmering playfully in her eyes before she turned her lips away again so that he couldn’t possibly steal what he was ** _—_** _ apparently **—** _ owed. 

He leaned to bump his ribs against her side as she turned back to him and used a single finger to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “What’s the going rate, anyway?” he asked, happy for any pretense for kisses and drawn into her unabashed flirtation.

“Mmm...five kisses?” She shrugged and looked up to the rafters, as if doing some intense calculations in her head. “Maybe ten actually. It  _ is _ the middle of the night after all,”

“That’s a pretty good bump there just for being at night,” Callum responded, drifting closer again to press his forehead to her temple. “Payment upfront or…?” Hearing no response, he pulled away without having pressed his lips to her cheek and found the grimace back in place, her arm pressing against her stomach again. She offered him another pained smile. “Oh. Right. Cramps. I’ll be back.” 

Her fingers yanked boldly at the fabric of his collar, but the touch of her lips to his was soft.

“One for the road,” she explained in a whisper, her nose still pressed into his cheek, before finally letting him stumble away.

* * *

The twisted-up feeling in her gut had faded to a dull ache again just before Callum reappeared, a bright red, heavy-looking sack in hand. He sighed and paused there in the doorway.

“What?” Rayla leaned up on an elbow while Callum stared at her, lazily smiling in her direction.

She was glad he seemed to be done with all of that frowning and fretting he’d been doing before she’d explained what was wrong. There was still that special brand of Callum-specific softness in the way he was looking at her, but comfort and care had taken the place of worry and concern. It wasn’t  _ that _ big of a deal, after all...though, she couldn’t really blame him for being a  _ little _ concerned when she thought back to the noises she’d been making at the crest of that horrible wave of discomfort that’d been what had woken him in the first place. 

As agonizing as the familiar clawing feeling in her abdomen was, the normalcy was almost a relief, actually. Last month, a combination of gnawing guilt, a lean diet of moonberries (and whatever else they could scrounge up in the forest), and concern over her hand’s impending doom had been distraction enough that she’d almost noticed the tautness of her lower belly too late, but she’d managed to avoid too much of a mess, even with having to stealthily sneak away from the boys intermittently to take care of the inconvenience in the middle of the woods. She’d been grateful, at the time, that it had been a relatively light and pain-free period, owing that to all of the  _ other _ stress in her life a month ago.

The Sources were making her pay the price now, though, she thought, with this cycle already all painful and heavy. Still, she’d rather be squirming in discomfort like this than laying awake in silence, trying to distract herself from the nightmares enough to fall asleep, she resolved. 

Plus, she couldn’t say she wasn’t enjoying Callum doting on her like he was. It might’ve been—well, _definitely_ _would’ve been_ , actually—awkward for him to touch her like that if it hadn’t been such a relief. Her heart pounded all giddily in her chest thinking about how _unreasonably_ sweet he was. No hesitation, no reluctance, barely even a trace of embarrassment...just _sweetness_. 

That sweet human of hers was smiling at her from the entryway like he had a secret now, as he pulled the door shut behind him. “You’ll think it’s dumb,” he said, referring to whatever it was that was making him beam at her like that.

“Try me,” she challenged. 

Callum’s gait changed to a dramatic saunter as he crossed the room, a faux-flirtatious smirk spreading across his lips.

“How’s my bright streak of moonlight doing?” He said once he’d reached her bedside, winking and pointing at her to add to the dorky effect.

“Ugh,” she groaned as his weight settled against the mattress, wondering if he was completely aware of just how much his dorkiness cheered her up. She let her eyes roll and her lips curl up into a smile at his latest embarrassing—but, admittedly, amusing—excuse for flirting. “ _ Callum _ .”

“I know, I know,” he chuckled as he tucked the warm, red bundle against her stomach, his hand then trailing along the side of her leg from hip to knee, thumb stroking firmly against the blanket there. “How’s that?”

Rayla couldn’t find a good reason to push down the warmth bubbling up that made her beam, all wide-eyed, at her sweet human prince. She nodded. “Thank you.” 

He continued, still watching her carefully, a bit of the worry leaking back into his eyes. “Opeli asked if you needed anything else…”

“I’m good,” she shook her head and reached for the hand at her knee, the heat against her belly enough for the aching to fade from focus and into the background. Her hand clasped lightly around his was enough to beckon Callum closer, in range for her to loop her arm over his neck and pull his face down to hers in search of a distraction to go with the comforting warmth. “Just need to pay the debt I owe,” she smirked.

“You know you don’t actually—“ She silenced him with the second kiss she’d promised, and he caught himself with an elbow next to her ear before he could fall against her completely.

“Shh,” she insisted, the sound echoing against stone castle walls. “Two,” she counted.

She didn’t let him pull far enough away to actually see his expression, but she had to raise herself up just a little higher to place the third kiss to his lips, which were pulled taut into the smile she had known would be her reward for interrupting him the way she had.

“Three,” he whispered with a flutter of laughter. 

His lips pushed against hers for the next one, his unoccupied hand grazing, feather-light, against her cheek before his fingers started to trace a gentle path along her jaw.

“Four,” she counted, barely squeezing the word in before he kissed her again, his enthusiasm and confidence blossoming like they tended to when they—what had she hit Soren for saying the other day?— _ made out. _

“Five,” he said, lips maintaining their pout rather than pulling into a smile now between kisses. She heard a quick, nearly gasping breath pass before he leaned down again, though none of their kisses had really been long enough to leave  _ her _ breathless, and if  _ she _ wasn’t breathless, she doubted her Sky mage was. Just...impatient, then, she figured. She felt another cramp begin to tighten in her gut and sought more distraction.

“Slow down...” Rayla caught him before he could land another kiss with her hand cupping his cheek. Keeping the next rushed kiss at bay for a moment, their eyes met when his ** _—_** bleary and deep green ** _—_** blinked open. He waited for her to close the distance, sucking in sharp breath just before she did. She took her time, slowly moving closer, softly pressing her mouth to his, gently letting her lips pull against Callum’s. 

“Six,” she whispered when they parted.  _ That  _ one had been long enough for both breathlessness  _ and _ a little lightheaded dizziness.

Callum immediately brought his lips crashing back to hers, disregarding the slow, steady pace of her last kiss, but mimicking her in the way he pulled her bottom lip between his, both of them now with a hand at the other’s cheek. She liked the way he let his weight fall against her as his lips moved against hers, her head swimming and dizzy with the closeness.

“Seven,” he counted, breathlessness matching hers now. Her fingers had drifted from the hair at the nape of his neck to ghost across his throat, and she felt his pulse, quickened and harsh against her thumb. She let the last kiss be gentle again.

“Ten.”

He shot upright abruptly.

“What? What happened to eight and nine?” he asked, eyebrows raised in confusion beneath tufts of brown hair. She blinked, realizing that she’d been distracted enough in the midst of cramps and kisses to fail to account for Callum’s extra fingers and extra numbers. 

“Oh,” she giggled. “Elven counting.” She wiggled her fingers at him. His turn to roll  _ his _ eyes.

“Nuh-uh. I’ve been misled. You  _ definitely _ owe me two more,” he said with genuine ** _—_** not goofy and affected ** _—_** flirtation, now. She  _ was _ curious about how breathless and dizzy two  _ more _ kisses might leave her. The pain in her gut that kisses had distracted her from throbbed again, though, and she winced, watching his face fall in the same moment. “Oh. You probably don’t want to—“

“No,” she pulled herself up to sit, a hand holding the hot water bottle in place, and pressed her lips to his again, interrupting him once more. “It’s a good distraction. Eight.”

She didn’t realize until his thumbs pressed into her sides how she’d missed his arms around her when he’d been leaned over her a moment ago. “Last one,” he whispered, his nose lingering against her cheek before giving her a kiss longer and slower and softer than the others, his hands at her waist easily pulling her focus away from the discomfort mounting in her belly again. He chuckled against her lips when her fingers wrapped into his collar with a sigh, her desperation to stay this distracted pushing to the surface. Callum’s hand wandered up her back, pulling her close enough that, after the kiss, falling into his embrace was the only natural thing to do.

“We should  _ probably _ stop kissing.” His lips brushed against the corner of her jaw.

“Says the boy kissing me,” she whispered, tone not  _ quite _ as snarky as had been her goal, and turned to reciprocate, catching the bit of hair that hung in front of his ear with her kiss. 

“...I really don’t want to stop kissing,” he breathed, lips straying along the edge of her ear now. His warm breath there would’ve normally made her slide away, laughing about how it tickled, but this was...different.  _ Especially _ given what he’d just said.

“Me either.” She let him finish with a kiss to the tip of her ear before nudging against his cheek so he’d turn and she could give him the same treatment.

There couldn’t possibly be  _ anything _ softer than the skin around Callum’s ear, she thought as she worked her way from just under his jaw, to his earlobe, to the curved side of his ear that led up to the rounded tip she laid one last kiss against. She breathed in as she did, her head going a little foggy with the familiar scent of Callum close-by in her nose.

“But we should go to sleep...right?” He sighed, pressing his forehead into hers.

“Right,” she confirmed, hands drifting to his shoulders to reluctantly put an inch or two between them at least. They both exhaled sharply once they were far enough away to look at each other, Callum’s eyes continuing to flicker to her lips over and over. She tried to prevent hers from doing the same, but before she could stop herself, she was not only looking at, but  _ touching _ his lips too, finding them a little more swollen, a little more warm, and a little more colorful than usual beneath her fingertips.

“What are you doing?” he laughed, his mouth hanging open a bit as she continued her gentle prodding of his lower lip.

“Well, if I can’t kiss them…” she trailed off. Callum watched her as his lips closed against the tips of her fingers with a kiss. She felt her cheeks color. 

“I mean ** _—_** ” His voice began as a soft whisper before he cleared his throat, his cheeks blooming red too. “ ** _—_** you  _ can _ .” 

“We’ll  _ never _ get to sleep, though, if I do,” she said with a cheeky smile as she reclined on her side against her pillow, the heavy, red-covered canteen sloshing as she tucked it back in place. The knot in her stomach was still easy to ignore with the help of its warmth. Callum’s dreamy, hazy stare shifted into a grin as she patted the spot next to her, not quite ready to give up the other factor helping to put the pain out of her mind. He crawled up next to her with a heavy plop against the comforter.

“Am I staying here?” he asked, wriggling up closer, breath against her cheek. Callum reached to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his nose grazing up along hers on his way to kiss the center of her brow. Sleeping in a bed, for a change, was nice and all but it had its downsides: she had been missing Callum at her side in the night.

“You can stay, but  _ only _ if you keep your lips to  _ yourself, _ ” she teased, closing her eyes and intertwining their fingers.

“Gonna be able to sleep?” He pushed their joined hands against the comforting heat resting below her belly button. She nodded, wondering if it was foolish to think that he might somehow be able to keep all of the other pain and worry at bay as well.

“Not if you keep talking, though” she gently scolded, peeking an eye open to see he was still watching her, comfort and care returned to his eyes. 

She thought maybe it wasn’t so foolish. 

What harm could one more kiss do? She pressed her lips against his still-flushed cheek.

“Thank you, Callum.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [That Time of the Month](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29144859) by [DaftNerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaftNerd/pseuds/DaftNerd)




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